What We’re Doing

About Levee Ready Columbia

Levee Ready Columbia is a partnership of over twenty public, private, nonprofit, and community-based organizations committed to reducing the risk of flooding for an area critical to the region’s future and supporting the environment and recreational value of the lands along the Columbia River in the Portland metro region. A full list of the LRC project partners is available here.

Working together, the partnership is committed to:

Protecting lives, property, and the environment by strengthening our levees along the Columbia River

Maintaining local access to affordable flood insurance through FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program by bringing our levees up to new federal safety standards

Updating and improving the way the levee system is managed and funded

Establishing a more sustainable and equitable funding structure to support an improved levee system

Preparing for the future impacts of climate change

Building awareness of the local flood risk

Helping to enhance the environmental and recreational value of the managed floodplain

A timeline of Levee Ready Columbia’s major milestones and decisions is available below. To go directly to the structural issues we’ve identified that will need to be repaired to bring the levee system up to new federal standards, click here.

LRC's Major Milestones & Decision Points

In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina pummels the Gulf Coast for nearly a week, causing catastrophic damage from Florida to East Texas. In the aftermath, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) overhaul their levee safety standards, including significantly increasing the requirements of local levee managers.

In late 2012, a federal review of past certifications of the local levees indicate that the system does not meet new federal standards. The drainage districts are notified that their certification through FEMA will soon be invalidated.

In November 2012, the two western drainage districts - PEN 1 and PEN 2 - convene a small group of stakeholders to figure out how to fund the technical investigation required to determine if their levees meet federal standards. The focus starts with PEN 1 and PEN 2 because their certification through FEMA will be invalidated first.

In December of 2013, the first Oregon Solutions Project Team meeting is held, bringing together representatives from public, private, nonprofit, and community organizations to serve as the decision-making body for the project.

After funding the initial assessments from their own budgets, PEN 1 and PEN 2 can no longer afford to continue the technical investigation of their levees. To keep the work moving forward, the project partners finance a $1.4 million loan through the State of Oregon’s Business Development Department’s Infrastructure Finance Authority (IFA).

The geotechnical investigation is completed in PEN 1 and PEN 2 and findings are presented to the Levee Ready Columbia partners. The finding represent an important first step in understanding the safety and resiliency of the levee system but a lot of work still has to be done.

The Levee Ready Columbia partnership successfully advocates for the passage of Senate Bill 306, which authorizes Business Oregon’s Infrastructure Finance Authority (IFA) to create a loan fund for levee projects associated with federal certification and accreditation. $5 million is appropriated to the fund.

On July 17, 2015 the Levee Ready Columbia partners sign their Declaration of Cooperation, committing to Phase II of the project, including completing the technical investigation needed in MCDD and SDIC and bringing more partners to the table.

In October of 2015, the LRC partners secure a loan for $3.5 million through the State of Oregon’sInfrastructure Finance Authority levee subaccount of the Special Public Works Fund to complete the geotechnical investigations in MCDD and SDIC.

The partners agree to develop a risk-based decision making tool to help guide future decisions related to the findings of the technical investigations and potential construction alternatives when it comes time to make decisions about specific levee repairs and upgrades. In addition to evaluating the economic risk, the partners want environmental and recreational benefits factored into the tool.

A risk-based evaluation of the "structural encroachments" – e.g. anything that is built into or on top of a levee - is completed in PEN 2. Fortunately, no high-risk encroachments are found and the US Army Corps of Engineers issues "legacy encroachment" standing for all existing structures that are built on the levees. In December of 2016, LRC holds an open house to inform the residents of PEN 2 of the findings.

In August, project partners approve inspections of the levee toe drains. These drains were installed many years ago so the inspection will uncover them and ensure they are working as they should in preparation for future high-water events. The results will be important in determining if any repairs are needed to recertify the system.

LRC receives a grant from FEMA’s Cooperating Technical Partners program to complete a flood risk assessment of the Columbia Corridor levee system. The assessment will quantify the consequences of levee failure in any of the local drainage districts.

Having identified that the current governance and revenue structure under which the drainage districts currently operate has not been sufficient to meet federal standards, the partners commit to work through a research and planning process to analyze alternative governance structures to see if there are alternatives that work better in the future.

In early December, a small group of project partners go to Washington, DC, to meet with the Oregon delegation, the Office of Management & Budget, the Assistant Secretary of the Army, and the US Army Corps of Engineers to emphasize the local interest in the designation of the Columbia Corridor levee system for a New Start feasibility study.

As a part of their governance research, the project partners decide to hire FCS Group, local economists and utility experts, to conduct an analysis of potential revenue structures under various governance scenarios.
As a part of this work, the partners establish a set of values that will be used to evaluate the revenue alternatives.

The Levee Environmental Conditions Assessment (LECA) is completed. The final product includes an inventory of the natural resources in the managed floodplain and an assessment of land use impacts over time.

Graduate student fellows from Portland State University’s Hatfield School of Government complete an inventory of community assets in the managed floodplain over two summers. The purpose is to identify and map the places that community members care about in the managed floodplain.

All geotechnical investigation is completed in PEN 1, PEN 2, MCDD, and SDIC, along with all freeboard embankment protection assessment, interior drainage analysis, and evaluation of structural encroachments.

After having several discussions about the pathway to implement a new governance structure as a partnership and with local elected officials and community leaders, the partners decide to take the ongoing funding and oversight challenges to the state legislature in 2019.

Colonel Aaron Dorf, Commander of the US Army Corps’ Portland District, joins partners for the official agreement signing and launch of the US Army Corps of Engineers New Start Feasibility Study of the Portland Metropolitan Levee System.

With grant funding from FEMA, Levee Ready Columbia commissioned a flood risk assessment of the Columbia Drainage Districts. This study, completed by the Oregon Department of Geology & Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) quantifies the impacts of levee failure during a 100- or 500-year flood (floods that have a 1% or .2% chance of occurring annually).

The Executives & Electeds of the partnership and the Project Team meet to review progress to date and legislative concepts under development for the upcoming legislative session. Partners agree to move forward with filing three legislative concepts.

A new climate change study, conducted jointly by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in partnership with the Levee Ready Columbia, is published. The findings will help the LRC partners understand and plan for the ways climate change will impact conditions on the lower Columbia River in the near future.

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Levee Ready Columbia is a partnership of over 20 organizations committed to a collaborative approach to floodplain management and modernizing the 27-mile levee system along the Columbia River in urban Multnomah County. We will make the most of opportunities to reduce the risk of flooding for an area critical to the region’s future while working to improve the environment and recreational value of the managed floodplain.